Russian oil exports in August 2024 decreased by 290,000 b/d month-over-month (m-o-m) to 7 million b/d, according to analysis from the International Energy Agency (IEA), based on trade data from Kpler and Argus Media. This marks the second consecutive month of decline and the lowest level since March 2021.
Russian oil companies received payments totaling 163.3 billion rubles from the budget for the fuel damper in August, the Finance Ministry said in materials on forming and utilizing additional oil and gas revenues from the federal budget, as posted on its website.
Investment firm LetterOne, owned in part by sanctioned Russian oligarchs Petr Aven and Mikhail Fridman, has acquired a minority stake (14.87%) in Harbour Energy, which is the UK’s biggest oil and gas company with operations in Norway, Southeast Asia, Germany, North Africa and Argentina.
It was a week when both oil and natural gas prices recorded small losses.
The headlines revolved around energy biggie Shell plc’s SHEL investment in an Australian gas project and equipment supplier SLB’s SLB expansion in Russia. Developments associated with ExxonMobil XOM, Marathon Oil MRO and NextDecade Corporation NEXT also grabbed attention.
Leaked documents and extensive interviews with sources have unveiled how Africa’s biggest oil-producing country has been importing substandard petroleum products from Malta, a country with no known oil refineries.
The signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) last week between Russian state gas giant Gazprom and the Iranian National Gas Company (NIGC) to begin direct transfers of gas from Russia to Iran “will act as a revolution in the energy and industry scene of the region”, according to Iran’s Petroleum Minister, Javad Owji. Indeed, this MoU and the others that preceded it can be seen as a major stepping stone to enabling the two countries to implement their long-held plan to be the core participants in a global cartel for gas suppliers in the same mold as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) for oil suppliers.
IOCs active in Iraqi Kurdistan finally yielded to Baghdad’s calls for oil sales to be handled by SOMO.
For China, a fractious independent Kurdistan with strong former ties to the U.S. would make the administration of Iraq’s oil and gas sector much more difficult.
Despite controlling Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil sector post-2017 independence vote, Russia prefers to work with Baghdad’s central government.
OPEC+ has extended its production cuts totaling 3.66 million bpd until 2025.
Further production cuts by OPEC+ could impact global oil prices and economic stability, particularly affecting China and the U.S.
Prominent OPEC countries may be reluctant to risk lower oil prices, as doing so could jeopardize the budgets for their ambitious national spending programs.
osneft’s ROSN.MM Black Sea oil refinery in Tuapse resumed operations on Sunday after a drone attack on May 17, an industry source familiar with the plant’s work told Reuters.
Oil prices steadied on Friday, with global benchmark Brent set for its first weekly gain in three weeks as economic indicators from big consumers China and the United States bolstered hopes for higher demand.